3 Things to Consider When Creating your Enterprise SaaS Agreement
Lots of clients ask me to help them with their enterprise SaaS agreement models. The discussion always starts with; well tell me about your ‘enterprise’ SaaS offering. Too often the clients don’t have it all mapped out, so we then talk about the following 3 issues.
Its About Price and When Your Customer Pays.
I have found that most enterprise SaaS customers are looking for a discount and are usually willing (but not always) to make some kind of long term commitment to your service (or some kind of other commitment that you can sink your teeth into). So remember that you are looking for a commitment here, and if you don’t get one then all you have given them is a big discount. Also, try to structure the agreement in a manner which requires them to pay upfront for at least 1 year (which is pretty typical for enterprise SaaS deals).
Is your Capacity Locked?
In other words, does your service prohibit them from exceeding the capacity they purchased (however that is measured) without coming back to you to make an additional purchase? If your service does have this restriction (which by the way I think it should), then providing the customer the ability to exceed the purchased capacity and pay later is usually part of the enterprise SaaS deal.
Price and Terms are Linked.
The main underlying theme of all enterprise SaaS agreements is price and terms are linked. This means that if a customer is willing to make more of a commitment (duration, upfront payment, minimum annual spend…you get the drift) to your service then they usually get a better price. Remember though, that the inverse is true too (no commitment = no big discount)
Ok, so when you are thinking about creating your enterprise SaaS agreement, keep these 3 things in mind. It is really not that hard, but think through all the details before you present it to your customer. Trust me, they will ask lots of questions; so the more you can anticipate their issues the better.
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Disclaimer: This post is for informational and educational purposes only, and is not legal advice. You should hire an attorney if you need legal advice, which should be provided only after review of all relevant facts and applicable law.